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Wish Upon Tomorrow
Wish Upon Tomorrow (明日への希望 / あしたへのきぼう / ashita e no kibou / Hope For Tomorrow) is the seventy-first chapter of the Elfen Lied manga series and the last chapter of Volume Seven. A story arc digest of chapters sixty-three through seventy-one is also available. Plot Mariko keeps a firm grip on Lucy, proclaiming her love for her father Kurama and telling Lucy that they will die together. Lucy beheads Mariko, but the bombs inside Mariko detonate all at once, catching Lucy by surprise. As Mariko's prosthetic arm flies past Kurama, Lucy is apparently still standing, but Nana immediately senses that Lucy is fading, and Nyu has resurfaced. Kurama is stunned to see Lucy/Nyu's horns have broken off since usually such a thing means that Diclonii falls into a comatose state. Realizing that Mariko's sacrifice has brought him a chance to kill Lucy once and for all, he prepares to kill Nyu, only stopped by Nana, who pleads for the innocent Nyu's life and promises to kill her should Lucy ever return. Kurama manages to smile when Nana says they both have a place where they belong at the Maple House. Kurama sends Nana away before more armed forces arrive. Before leaving, she asks if she was a substitute or replacement for Mariko. He says that while it wasn't his intent, she did end up that way. Nana, saying she does not wish to be a substitute daughter, vows instead to become his wife, and reminds him that she will always be waiting for him when he wants to take her up on this offer. After she leaves, Kurama is surrounded by the blood and remains of Mariko and Shirakawa, apologizing to the latter for being a lousy boss, and proclaiming his love and regret to the former, as he places his weapon against his throat and pulls the trigger in a distant-view scene. Nana and Nyu reach the police barricades, only to find Kouta waiting patiently for them. She notes gratefully that the sometimes pushy Kouta asks no questions of them even as he carries Nana on his back and guides the two home, where Mayu anxiously awaits them and guides them to the bath. Yuka reveals that Nozomi has fixed the clothes Nana arrived in, as they sit down for hot soumen soup. Kouta shows a bit of anger at Nana's disappearance earlier by asserting that she should make sure to thank Nozomi properly, and mock-threatening to eat all the soup himself when she seems to have lost her appetite. Finding the dish and everything about her new life and home to be wonderfully fantastic, Nana breaks down in tears for Mariko, who will never experience anything like these simple pleasures. At the Diclonius Research Institute, Chief Kakuzawa brings Arakawa back to the underground grotto, where he shows her a major part of the next phase of his operation, the creature that will ensure he captures Lucy. In rather grandiose and vague terms that Arakawa finds troubling, he reveals something he variously calls the spirit-container of the new race, the embryo of a god, and an Oracle. In the waters surrounding them, a gigantic visage with crooked eyes stares back at them. Trivia *While the anime concludes differently, up until this chapter, certain plots and plot elements connected it more or less directly with the manga. After this chapter, the manga moves into story-lines that the mid-2000's anime did not have the time or the budget to cover, and moves in an entirely unique and final direction. Certain plot elements of both finales still share common ground, and small elements of later chapters also found their way into the anime. *Perhaps reflecting her seemingly permanent reversion to Nyu, on this chapter cover, undressed as she often is, yet also blushing, perhaps indicating some character development to come, which might include modesty. Gallery ELC71A.JPG Category:Series Information Category:Story Related Category:Manga Category:Article